Vanderbilt sits in second place

Commodores trail Fairleigh Dickinson at Morgan State Invite

BALTIMORE, Md. -- Vanderbilt went 5-0 and sits in second place after the first day at the Morgan State Invitational.

The Commodores finished behind Fairleigh Dickinson but ahead of a tightly grouped field that had Nebraska and Central Missouri nipping at their heels in team standings.

"We were pretty consistent today," coach John Williamson said. "We didn't execute first shots too well until the last game but we perked up against Delaware State. Otherwise it felt as though we were on auto-pilot much of the time. We didn't have any great games, although the last one was better but we also didn't have any clunkers. We haven't gone 5-0 too many times this season."

Williamson was especially happy with his two freshmen, Natalie Goodman and Rebeca Reguero.

"I thought they were very good today," he said. "It was good to get to use two lefties for an extended time; they saw the pattern, scored well. It was nice to see their development."

While the Commodores managed to avoid "zoning out" as Williamson refers to weak performances against upset-minded foes, they were pushed hard in the second game of the afternoon by North Carolina Central before winning by 25 pins. Interestingly, North Carolina Central's next best game during the afternoon was about 100 pins less than their effort against the `Dores.

"We had to make five shots in the fourth game to beat them and I was proud of us for hanging in there and winning," Williamson said. "All wins are important in getting in position for Sunday."